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The counsellor has been "relieved of her duties" for failing to properly document information after providing patients with genetic counselling. In a worst-case scenario, that would mean that some patients or their referring doctors are unaware they have elevated risks for developing inherited cancers, either because the counsellor didn't arrange tests or failed to record and report results to patients and their referring doctors.

All but four of the 192 patients she worked with have been contacted and offered both instructions and apologies, said Dr. Barb McGillivray, medical director of the Hereditary Cancer Program.

McGillivray said there are "very small risks of imminent harm" to patients as a result of the counsellor's incomplete work. But patient's records and tests must be completed, their referring doctors notified of their status and their files closed.

"We regret what has happened and we are very sorry. We take this matter very seriously. Patient safety and care are foremost as priorities," McGillivray said in an interview with The Vancouver Sun.

The Hereditary Cancer Program gets about 1,300 new referrals each year to help individuals — with or without a personal history of cancer —who want to know if they — and their family members — have a genetic predisposition to cancer.

Those who fit the criteria, such as having two or more close relatives with the same kind of cancer, can be referred by their doctors to the program for counselling and possible testing to determine if they have a confirmed mutation in a hereditary cancer gene. Breast, ovarian and colorectal cancers are the most common types that may be inherited. Overall, about five to seven per cent of cancers are believed to have hereditary causes.

The genetic counsellor who is no longer working at BCCA was one of a handful of such professionals in the program. For legal and human resource reasons, agency officials are not calling her departure a firing. "The employee involved has been removed from duties at BC Cancer Agency," spokesman David Weir said.

Susan Frank, a 52-year old Surrey woman, believes her experience is what triggered the whole investigation. A year ago, Frank went to the now-fired genetic counsellor, who took her personal and family medical history. Frank then had her blood drawn to learn if she's at risk for inheriting a breast cancer mutation from her mother and grandmother, both of whom died of breast cancer.

Frank's mother died at the age she is now, which only fuels her fear and anxiety.

She was advised it could take about six months to get her lab results revealing whether she has the BRCA genetic mutations associated with breast cancer. When the six months came and went, she repeatedly called and emailed the genetic counsellor, but never got a response.

A colleague of the now-dismissed counsellor happened to hear a voicemail from Frank and instantly recognized a problem. The decision to probe each patient file was made late last year, but the BCCA did not publicly disclose the investigation until The Sun asked about it Monday.

McGillivray said that over the past month, the agency has had "risk managers" calling patients to explain the process and to apologize. All patients contacted have been offered repeat appointments.

Frank said in addition to calls from a risk manager, she also got a letter from BCCA chief operating officer, Karim Karmali. The letter states he's "dismayed" about the "terrible experience" and the obvious "distress" it caused. Karmali apologized and told Frank that a detailed investigation is underway and she'll be informed about any "corrective action."

The hereditary program services are not intended to be diagnostic, but the genetic counselling and testing can be life-saving as it identifies patients and family members who need earlier or more frequent screening, or those who should consider options like prophylactic mastectomies. The radical surgery is associated with a 90-per-cent reduction in breast cancer risk in those with gene mutations.

Since some genetic counselling takes place by video conference, the BCCA is still trying to contact four patients who received counselling in other municipalities (Surrey or Abbotsford) between August, 2010 and December, 2010, and have not been contacted. They are being asked to call 604-877-6000, local 2198.

Frank said even after learning that corrective action is being taken, she's distraught from the ordeal. "I've learned my paperwork was never sent in, which is why my blood tests were not analyzed. This makes me feel like I was lied to and that the facts were misrepresented to me. There were quite a few blunders, and not just pertaining to me," she said.

"I am now looking at getting results in about April, which will be 15 months after I submitted my blood for sampling," Frank said, "and that's far too long."

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